Bhubaneswar: Odisha Police on Thursday cautioned citizens against cyber fraudsters who are duping people on the pretext of Covid-19 related help during the pandemic in the State.
Issuing an advisory through a press briefing, Director General of Police (DGP) Abhay said that cyber criminals may defraud citizens through phone calls, emails and social media platforms and steal personal details on the pretext of registration for Covid vaccination, supply of Oxygen, medicines, telemedicine and charity
Explaining the modus operandi of fraudsters he said, “Scammers are making phone calls, sending emails and writing through various social media platforms offering people to register names for receiving vaccines. They are collecting sensitive personal and financial information in the process. Money is immediately siphoned off from the bank account of the victims.”
The DGP advised people to exercise caution and not to entertain any phone calls, emails or proposals through social media platforms on vaccine registration.
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He reminded the people not to share their personal data with any unknown person and use only the mobile application approved or issued by the Government Health Department for Covid-19 vaccination.
“So far there are three mobile applications --CoWIN, Aarogya Setu and Umang-- approved by Government of India. People shouldn’t download any other application for registration for vaccination and share personal details through those,” cautioned Abhay.
He also advised not to share personal information with anybody offering services of supplying Covid-19 medicines, Oxygen, telemedicine services and bed facilities.
“People should verify and cross check the details of any website or organisation before sending advance money and sharing personal and financial details,” he said.
He also cautioned people not to be lured by any gifts and lottery wins promised by the fraudsters.
“No one in this world offers anything for free. So people need to be careful about the fraudsters offering free gifts and asking for personal details,” he said adding that the credibility of the organisations, asking for charity to help Covid-19 affected people, should be verified and cross checked before sending money.
(Edited by Ramakant Biswas)